Thought about it recently and I totally should have updated with a Vlog to show how things look debraced! So, here's one now.... don't mind the ridiculously short haircut my hair dresser decided to give me unexpectedly....and the tired face. I've been up since 2 this morning and the last two nights combined I have not slept more than 8 hours. #ThanksShiftWork

A few tidbits not in the video-- I got a thank you card from my surgeons office for the thank you gifts I gave them. It's always funny when somebody gives you a thank you for your thank you, but I can relate since I usually do the same thing! Anywho, if anybody from Dr. Karas's office reads this blog, thank you for your thank you for the thank you! ;)

Card from Dr. Karas's office. Super nice of them :)

Speaking of my surgeon, I wanted to talk about a few words he had with me last week. I think it's important to talk about for other patients both preop and post op. I mentioned to him that I am still trying to get used to my new face/smile (which he said give a year to settle in to, which I totally was already going to do and then some) and how difficult the process is of doing that. Think about it. You had this face shape and teeth your whole life, and then they knock you out and re-arrange it in a few hours and sometimes people look seriously way different. I don't think my change is as drastic as some others, but it's still not the face I saw for 33 years every day, and different is hard, even if it's a little different and even if it's different in a good way. He immediately said something that makes sense though, so for anybody else going through this and having a hard time, he said just look at is as if your jaws had grown right to begin with, this is how you would have looked. His goal is to get me to that place had I not had the jaw grow all wonky on me. And it's totally true. I find now that I look more like my younger sister, who for the most part is a proportional class I skeletal and dental. I would say the hardest thing for me personally right now is everything almost looks fake to me, but I think it's just because I am not used to it at all. My smile looks way too wide to me, and my teeth feel huge. I think that is because I used to have little chicklet teeth and I was all gum (you can glance as some of those pre op shots in the before/after treatment comparison page in the side menu). I'm sure I'll get used to it though. And for other patients who may be reading this and having a little bit of a hard time with the changes through all of this, take my very wise surgeon's advice-- give it time and allow this to become your new normal. Even good change is still change and you'll need time to wrap your brain around it. Like everything else in this journey, it won't happen overnight.

Anywho, here is the Vlog. Again don't mind the ridiculous haircut and my tired and out of it self!

Hey there! I am not sure. I go in on Thurs to get some molds and a stent done for implant planning and then I guess they'll get me on the books for at least the back molar. I think we might actually hold off on the front teeth for a few months. They aren't as loose as they expected (despite not having bone/root on the back of the teeth-- all of my docs are SUPER surprised at how solid the teeth feel instead of flopping around as much as they should given how bad of shape they're in) and might be worth trying a wait and see. Wait a few months, take some xrays and see if I've lost more bone. If I have, then proceed with extractions. If I haven't, then wait another 3-4 months and check again. If I don't lose more bone, I *might* be able to keep these teeth a little bit.